A. Species
Scientific name: Encephalartos aemulans
Common name(s): Ngotshe cycad
Global IUCN Red List Threat Status: Critically Endangered
B. Location of use
Geographic location(s):
- South Africa
- KwaZulu-Natal
Country/Region:
C. Scale of assessment
Scale of assessment: National Level
Name/Details of location: South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal
D. Timescale of use
Start Year: 1995
End Year: 2011
E. Information about the use
How is the wild species sourced?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat
Type of use: Extractive
Practice of use: Gathering/Cutting/Collecting terrestrial plants and fungi or their products from the wild
Lethal or non-lethal: Lethal
Does this use involve take/extraction of: The whole entire organism
Purpose(s) of end use: Keeping/companionship/display and Decorative and aesthetic
Motivation of use: Largescale commercial exploitation for trade
Is this use legal or illegal?: Illegal under national law
F. Information about the Users
Which stakeholder(s) does the record primarily focus on?: Non-local Internal, Non-local External and National / local private sector
G. Information about the sustainability of use
Is there evidence that the use is having an impact on the target species?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an ecological perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable
Details of assessment carried out: CITES Non detriment findings
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Overuse/exploitation for horticultural purposes is the major factor threatening the survival of E. aemulans and although the rate of population decline is uncertain, adult plants continue to be lost from the wild due to poaching. The species’ biology, which is characterized by a poor dispersal ability and slow growing long-lived adults that regenerate predominantly from seed, renders E. aemulans particularly vulnerable to overutilization. This, together with the species’ extremely poor conservation status, the ongoing poaching pressure, the capacity and budgetary constraints that prevent conservation authorities from curbing poaching, the lack of conservation incentives and the continuing ineffective implementation of the existing strict protection measures for cycads on a national basis, presents a scenario that is unfavourable for the survival of E. aemulans in the wild and the species is at an extremely high risk of unsustainable utilization.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic perspective been recorded?: not recorded
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: not recorded
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a human health perspective been recorded?: not recorded
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an animal health/welfare perspective been recorded?: not recorded
Recommendations provided in the record to maintain or enhance the sustainability of the use of the target species
Current trade in artificially propagated specimens of E. aemulans is detrimental. The Scientific Authority is unable to state with any confidence that parental stock is cultivated (as defined in the CITES Resolution Conf. 11.11 (Rev. CoP15)) in all cases of export since (1) evidence of legal acquisition is dubious and (2) the data at hand suggest that some parental stock has been obtained in a manner detrimental to the wild population. It is therefore recommended that E. aemulans seedlings may only be exported if the nursery is registered in accordance with the CITES Resolution Conf. 9.19 (Rev. CoP15), and i. The seedlings are artificially propagated in accordance with the CITES Resolution Conf. 11.11 (Rev. CoP15), or ii. The seedlings have been grown from wild harvested seed in accordance with the conditions specified in the CITES Resolution Conf. 11.11 (Rev. CoP15) and within the framework of a Biodiversity Management Plan published in terms of section 43 of the NEMBA. Each nursery applying for CITES registration must be audited in accordance with a decision tree to be developed by the Scientific Authority within 3 months of the publication of this NDF, and regular follow up audits must be conducted in order to monitor seedling propagation. All parental plants must i. Be accompanied by TOPS possession permits and affidavits from the owner stating that the plants are not of wild origin, and ii. Not exhibit any characteristics typical of wild origin. Guidelines for the identification of wild characteristics will be developed by the Scientific Authority within 3 months of the publication of this NDF. The export of large artificially propagated specimens (with a stem diameter of more than 15 cm) is prohibited (Government Notice 371, May 2012).
Record source
Information about the record source: scientific_pub, grey_lit, formal_data_stats and expert_knowledge
Date of publication/issue/production:
Source Reference(s):
assist in making non-detriment findings for Appendix II exports. Occasional Paper of the IUCN
Species Survival Commission No. 27 (2002). A. Rosser and M. Haywood.
Date of record entry: 2024-11-08